Diseases

“Our intention is to promote the sharing of scientific knowledge in order to advance public health,” said Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation. “It underpins the principal goal of medical research: to serve the betterment of humanity.”

The Ebola outbreak, which has infected some 24,000 people and killed around 10,000 of them, has also reduced vaccination coverage in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, as health facilities and staff focus on halting the outbreak.

or some, they understood only that their loved ones had been taken to treatment centres and never returned. Infected people refused to be hospitalized; some of them even fled hospital. We recognized the great need for more of a “human touch”. Our anthropologist worked with the Ministry of Health and others to persuade them of the importance of showing empathy to families of the infected and of including them in the burial process.

“All the elements that led to the outbreak`s resurgence in June were also present in March, but the analysis, recognition and willingness to assume responsibility to respond robustly were not,” the report said.

“The focus on Ebola was clearly necessary to control the disease, and options were extremely limited, but it’s unfortunate that attention and resources were diverted from routine health services such as childhood vaccination,” Takahashi says.